Calvin Klein’s #MYCALVINS campaign, featuring Justin Bieber, caused a spike in social media mentions—the KPI that matters in fashion, where brand relevance is everything.
Occasionally, a tried-and-true planning tool endures through radical changes in the industry because it is almost impossible to improve upon. Modern strategic planning has no use for the purchase funnel, but a tool of a similar vintage, the brand house, is so incredibly useful it may be of value forever.
The brand house consolidates all brand assets into one chart, which makes things easier. With a strong brand house, decision-making within the brand is easier, telling the story of the brand clearly and consistently is easier, and for the consumer, understanding the brand and its values is easier. If it all aligns, consumers become predisposed to the brand before they are ready to make a choice. The brand house, particularly the purpose and pillars, also has a profound effect on the beliefs and behaviors of a company’s internal audience—its employees.
I have worked with brands that have transformed their business by developing and sticking to their brand house. From 2015–19, I consulted with Calvin Klein, which was in a tough situation in the mid-2010s. As everyone knows, the fashion brand achieved global fame in the 1980s, but more recently it had become mostly a mainstream department store brand. Beautiful collection dresses appeared at red carpets on celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence, and Lupita Nyong’o—but the brand could also be found at Costco for a few dollars for a pack of underwear. Global sales were flat or declining.
In my very first assignment, I was commissioned to do global consumer research. It told us that young consumers from Asia to Europe to Latin America all felt that the brand was living off the vapors of its past fame (if you are above a certain age, you may remember the famous Brooke Shields and Kate Moss ads), and it was universally felt that within a year or so younger Millennials and emerging Gen Zers would lose interest completely. The brand was sliding towards irrelevance and oblivion.
Despite having significant sales globally, Calvin Klein was a classic Alpha brand that was quickly on its way to becoming an Old Dog. The culprit, as usual, was neglect: a lack of real investment in advertising for many years, meaning a lack of relevant and modern brand messaging and, critically, the lack of a brand house. Without a “North Star” to guide the brand, each region had “gone rogue” and produced campaigns that were not consistent with the master brand, or did nothing to define the future of the brand. Total brand anarchy.
In collaboration with another consultant, we developed the brand house in two workshops, then the brave and talented marketing and creative team championed it and rolled it out globally. First, though, we implemented the brand house across the internal Calvin Klein brand experience, from recruitment to training. The brand positioning, in particular, would influence not only the creative, but also every choice that the brand would subsequently make, from hiring, to design, and even to the transformation of their new office space. A brand positioning statement (see “Brand Positioning,” page 51, in this chapter) describes how a product or service fills a consumer need. The words we landed on were:
Calvin Klein. Modern Provocateur.
The positioning captured the essence of the brand’s beginning, when Calvin Klein himself had been the epitome of the “modern provocateur,” as well as the later Kate Moss campaign. Ultimately, it reminded the team of the heritage of the brand: they were sitting on the shoulders of giants, which should give them a sense of pride, not terror.
To be relevant to a teen to early 30s audience, they had to poke the bear. They had to redefine what being “modern” and “provocative” meant for the brand. Because what it meant in the 1990s was totally irrelevant to Millennial and older Gen Z audiences, who had been born digital and social natives and were, to date, fairly unshockable. Today, relevance is being transparent and authentic. In advertising, Gen Zers and younger Millennials expect celebrities to be genuine and true. They don’t just want to see images of pretty faces. They want to understand the person, to hear the backstory—the hard knocks, as well as the highs. They also want diversity. Different ethnicities, different age groups, different abilities, different bodies, and different sexual orientations.
Inspired by the brand positioning, the creative director created a radical new advertising campaign that was initially launched featuring Justin Bieber. Bieber was at an important crossroads; he had started making great music again after a period of self-destructive behavior had taken the sheen off his glittering career. The marketing and creative team, led by Melisa Goldie, Bob Fouhy, Lina Kutsovskaya, and Michael DeLellis, took a chance on hiring him. If this worked, it would resurrect not only his career, but also the Calvin Klein brand. Or the exact opposite could have happened. Much to their credit, the team decided to go for it.
The subsequent #MYCALVINS campaign was the shot in the arm the brand needed to revive itself. People were intrigued to see Justin Bieber looking so fantastic and were keen to learn more about where he was in his life and career. The campaign launch was almost 100 percent paid social, and social mentions for Calvin Klein rapidly spiked over the period when the ads ran and stayed high for a number of weeks afterwards. The campaign was extended over the next 12 months and other diverse celebrities signed up to show the world what they, too, did in their Calvins. The campaign has evolved and is still running strong as this goes to press.
The campaign that began the transformation of Calvin Klein’s flattening business was inspired by the brand house we built. It’s the blueprint informing all brand decisions—business cards, billion-dollar global campaigns, and everything in between. When the entire leadership team buys into the brand house, and encourages their employees to live it every day, transformation is possible.
The brand house is foundational to a brand, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be set in stone. It will evolve to reflect changes in the company, culture, category, and, of course, the economy. But ideally, the brand house should stand unscathed for a few years, at least. So, it’s important to get the elements right. But first, you need to know what a brand house looks like.
Calvin Klein’s #MYCALVINS campaign, featuring Justin Bieber, caused a spike in social media mentions—the KPI that matters in fashion, where brand relevance is everything.
There are many variants of brand houses, and you need to find the one that works best for you. The structure that I use is shown on the facing page. Whatever model you choose, each part of the brand house plays a distinct role. As with a real house, if one part is removed, destroyed, or neglected, the structure will weaken or collapse. The brand house can be improved upon over time (just as a house can be refurbished), but for the brand to remain whole, everyone who touches the brand, now and in the future, must respect and adhere to it.
The tried, tested, and true brand house—a timeless tool for any strategic planner.
There is much talk today about “purpose-driven brands,” as social media has forced brands to be transparent and authentic. Ultimately, that is a good thing: social media has moved power from the brand to the consumer, who will only engage with or buy from brands that share their values. A brand’s most critical value should be reflected in the brand purpose—this is the roof of the house and its most important element. In a brand house workshop, you always start at the top, as it will influence every other element in a positive and inspiring way.
This is the purpose of the brand beyond profit, the reason why the company and brand even exist. It answers the questions: What do we stand for as a company? What impact do we want to make on the world? The brand purpose often gets confused with the brand mission, and a simple way to distinguish them is to think of the mission as “what we do” and the purpose as “why we do it.” It is the most humanized aspect of the brand house and of the company’s unified vision. It is owned by everyone, but it is typically championed by the CEO and/or chairperson.
A brand purpose must:
Following are some examples of brand purpose statements that can be found online. (Note that some of these brands identify these statements as mission or vision statements. The terminology has become confused over the years, but I would suggest that these are indeed purpose statements.)
Dove: To help women everywhere develop a positive relationship with the way they look, helping them realize their full potential.
Crayola: Encouraging children to be creative and enabling parents to inspire them.
Disney: To create happiness for others.
Note that the simpler the purpose, the more likely employees and stakeholders are to remember it.
The brand purpose typically pushes against a cultural nemesis. In the case of Disney, I can imagine discussions about how people are becoming more anxious and depressed, as the pressures of work and life build up with each passing year. This isn’t an idle generalization, but an insight based on solid data: according to a recent American Psychiatric Association poll, almost 40 percent of Americans were more anxious in 2019 than the year before. With a nemesis identified, brand managers can then ask how their brand could become the antidote. If people are anxious or sad, the antidote could be “happiness.” If the world is complex, the antidote could be “simplicity.”
To illustrate how to get to a brand purpose in a brand house workshop, let’s return to Sally’s, our imaginary brand of mac and cheese. Let’s say that it’s a family-owned business that has been around for 40 years, with strong family values. Sally’s is proud to use a few simple, natural ingredients, with no colorings or additives.
First, ask the team why the brand exists at all. Then, to find your cultural nemesis, examine and discuss the key dynamics that are animating the culture at large today. For example, in the U.S. we have never been more divided as a country. So, if you are pushing against “division,” then the antidote could be “togetherness.” Or, “inequality” gets you to “inclusion.” “Hate” or “cynicism” is combatted with “love.”
Let’s find a succinct way of putting this all together. For Sally’s, our purpose statement could be: “We bring love to any table.”
Now you have the top of the house.
A brand’s purpose statement speaks to why a brand exists, beyond profit motives.
Some brand houses refer to the brand mission, while others use the term brand vision. To me, they are almost interchangeable. However, since a vision typically focuses on a future state that is often not achievable in anyone on the brand team’s lifetime, and since the brand purpose already does this to some extent, I like the next level of the brand house to be more achievable and tangible.
The brand mission is a short narrative that outlines what the company does, or intends to do. It is true to who the brand is now and leaves some wiggle room for the future. It is related to the brand purpose, but is more descriptive and uses more concrete language. The mission is owned by the whole company, but is typically championed by the CFO and COO.
The brand mission needs to:
Examples of brand missions that can be found online are:
Amazon.com: To be the earth’s most customer-centric company.
Microsoft: To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Now, using these guidelines, let’s create a brand mission for Sally’s Mac and Cheese. First, the brand’s superior benefits are twofold: it is family-owned, and the ingredients are natural and of a high quality. Because of this, the brand charges a premium over the competition. Next, we need to identify how the brand makes or could make an impact on people’s lives. Sally’s brings families together around the dinner table, as the meal is typically presented in a serving dish that is to be shared. There is another important piece of information to consider: the longer-term objective of the brand is to create new products beyond mac and cheese, such as cottage pie and sweet potato casserole. These new products will remain in the higher-end comfort food category, because this is Sally’s point of difference. So, we need to have a mission that is relevant for now and for later, such as: “To create superior shareable food that brings families together.”
The brand mission identifies an achievable goal for the company.
The brand positioning is often confused with a value proposition, another term often used in marketing. However, these terms are somewhat different. A value proposition tends to be broader and describes how the product or service is superior to the competition, or the benefit it provides the consumer. Positioning statements speak to how the benefits of the product or service fill a consumer need. The brand positioning is the space and place the brand occupies in the consumer’s mind.
Unlike the brand purpose or mission statement, a positioning statement is not intended to be public facing. It is typically short, memorable, and the most critical phrase in a creative brief, under the “single proposition” section. The brand positioning is typically championed by marketing and communications.
The brand positioning needs to:
Examples of brand positionings I have found online are:
Dollar Shave Club: A great shave, cheap.
Uber: The smartest way to get around.
Slack: Be more productive at work with less effort.
HubSpot: There’s a better way to grow.
Sally’s Mac and Cheese has many differentiated brand benefits versus the competition. It is nutritious and chemical-free, whereas the main competitor uses food coloring and synthetic flavoring and is high in carbs and salt. Sally’s is made from high-quality ingredients, making it more expensive, whereas the main competitor is cheaper but uses cheap ingredients. All brands of mac and cheese are comfort food loved by families; they are often among a small repertoire of foods that kids will actually eat. But parents may worry about these foods being unhealthy. So how about releasing them from guilt by offering “comfort food that’s actually good for you.”
The brand positioning (bottom) is the most important element of a creative brief. It should be short and memorable.
The pillars are the hardworking structures that make the house solid. Without them it will crumble. Brand pillars take on different forms depending on a brand’s needs, but I ask clients to strictly adhere to only three pillars, for three reasons: it requires discipline to pare down to three pillars; three pillars are easier to remember; and three pillars are easier to execute.
The last point is particularly important because often the brand pillars are directives for the employees who are “boots on the ground”—they will be lived by consumer-facing employees and are thus the most prominent. With Dunkin’ Donuts, one of our former clients, we all agreed that Dunkin’ needed pillars that acted as simple directives to the servers, who typically worked at Dunkin’ for a short time before churning out. The pillars couldn’t be ethereal or broad. The pillars needed to support the upper elements of the house, and for Dunkin’ this was not possible without getting the basics of customer service and quality control right. One example of this was “get it right the first time.”
For other service brands, the pillars could be individual words that reflect what the service experience needs to be. For an Old Dog brand, pillar words like “innovative” or “progressive” are important to bring energy and dynamism to the brand. However, do not use these words if your brand has no intention of innovating or being progressive. It sounds really obvious, but very often, clients will want to overextend the pillar language into promises that for a variety of reasons, such as budget, manufacturing, or distribution, they cannot keep. Broken pillars (and, therefore, broken promises), render the brand house useless. Stick with pillars that:
Examples of brand pillars I have found online:
Southwest: Warrior Spirit/Servant’s Heart/Fun-Loving Attitude
John Deere: Quality/Integrity/Innovation
It is important to understand the customers’ experience of the brand before you start pillar development. Ask your team: How is the service, online and in-store? Are the basics covered, or is there a lot of work to do? How about the product quality? Is it consistent? Is the company seen as an innovator or a laggard? Can the company innovate quickly? The responses to these questions will inform the types of pillars you need to create—whether they offer practical guidance or an attainable vision. You may even need a combination of both.
For Sally’s Mac and Cheese, let’s look at the imperatives for the family and the brand:
These imperatives suggest that to support the brand house, Sally’s pillars need to combine guidance and vision, such as:
Brand pillars are the RTBs (reasons to believe) that support the rest of the brand house. Without these, the whole structure would crumble.
The brand personality is the foundation of the brand house, supporting the entire structure. It is the most human of the brand house elements. It needs to describe the brand as if it were a person, in a way the consumer can relate to. The brand personality is owned by the entire company.
To establish a successful brand personality, ask yourself:
At best, the brand personality needs to:
Examples of brand personalities found online:
Etsy: Honest. Unique. Hardworking.
Beats by Dr. Dre: Young. Trendy. Rugged.
Harley-Davidson: Macho. Adventurous. Free.
For Sally’s Mac and Cheese, the personality of the brand represents the personality of the members of the family who founded it. Like the family, the brand is as real as can be, trustworthy to a fault, and generous to others, so, for our brand personality, how about:
Authentic. Honest. Kind.
The foundation of a brand house is the personality—if the brand were a person, how would its friends describe it? The completed brand house informs all decisions made by everyone who touches the brand.
Now we’ve completed the Sally’s Mac and Cheese brand house. If Sally’s were a real company, this would be the blueprint for all brand decision-making. Sally’s would have a purpose and vision to work towards, one known by every partner, vendor, agency, and stakeholder. It would create clarity, simplicity, and discipline around the brand, leaving no room for either personal interpretation or brand anarchy. It would influence the visual identity of the brand, the types of product they produced, the advertising they created, and the kinds of employees they would hire, from the factory floors to the C-Suite. Its pillars would inform the boots on the ground, giving them values and practices to adhere to.
Frequently, regardless of how successful a brand is, when a new CMO is hired the brand is reinvented, and valuable brand assets are thrown away, sometimes simply because they “weren’t invented here.” A strong brand house will outlive most employees and prevent this needless reinvention. The house becomes bigger than the brand team who created it and any that follow them.
You will be surprised at how many brands out there do not have a brand house or anything like it. It’s amazing to me how anyone gets anything done without it, considering how much time must be wasted in trying to redefine the brand over and over, instead of sticking to one blueprint. If the marketing team you are working with does not have a brand house (or something similar), try to convince them of its importance, and then set up a full-day or 2-day workshop as soon as possible.
This workshop should be run by the strategic planners on the business, and there should be no more than about 20 people present. Participants should consist of:
The structure of the workshop can be adapted depending on your client’s needs and availability. But in general, below I have outlined what has worked for me over the last few years:
Now, this next part is incredibly important. After you’ve built the brand house, the work is just beginning. You must engage client groups in the adoption of the brand house, or it will become just another chart that marketing created, languishing in some long-forgotten file at the back of everyone’s desk drawer.
First, engage the CEO. The best way to get buy-in is to pull them in when the brand house is in draft form. Let the CEO focus on the brand purpose and brand mission. They are more likely to want to own, and regularly repeat, the purpose in their town hall meetings, investor meetings, thought leadership papers, panels and speeches, and, of course, annual reports. After all, the brand purpose is the North Star of the whole organization. Its reason for being. It makes sense for the leader to own it. Plus, the rest of the C-Suite will buy into the brand house if the CEO has already approved it, and if employees hear them use it regularly, then they’ll do the same.
If the CEO creates a different brand purpose that you like just as much as the one you developed, and it fits with the rest of the brand house, use it. If they tweak yours and it doesn’t kill the essence of it, use it. The CEO will be the brand purpose’s biggest champion.
Next, you need to engage the employees. It’s one thing to remember the elements of the brand house, it’s another to actually adopt and live them every day. There is only one guaranteed way to ensure this: have your clients set up mini-workshops, starting with critical teams such as HR and sales. Have each department run their workshop by focusing on the following agenda:
After the workshops, each department can present their plan to the C-Suite—including the CMO—and make a clear commitment to executing it, within an agreed-upon time period, with support from the C-Suite, as needed.
By being actively involved and gaining some ownership, each department will be more likely to buy in to the brand house and implement the changes, which will change behaviors within their team. As each team adapts, the overall company starts to move towards the purpose and mission outlined in the brand house. Instead of being an intangible and, therefore, dismissible document, it becomes a real living blueprint.